Food security threatened by extreme flooding, farmers warn

buckkette@newsletter.paragraph.com (buckkette.eth) — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 06:09:45 GMT

Record-breaking rain over the past few months has left fields of crops under water and livestock's health at risk, adding to pressures on food producers.

The flooding and extreme weather linked to climate change will undermine UK food production unless farmers get more help, the National Farmers Union said.

The NFU is calling on the government to do more to compensate flooded farmers and support domestic food production.

The government said it was looking to expand a new compensation scheme.

The NFU has warned of "substantially reduced output" and "potential hits" to the quality of crops in this year's harvest thanks to weeks of rain since the autumn.

NFU vice president Rachel Hallos said UK farmers were "on the front line of climate change - one of the biggest threats to UK food security".

"These extremes could soon become the norm," she told the BBC. "We need a clear plan from government to prepare, adapt and recover from our changing climate in the short and long term so that we can continue to produce food and care for the countryside."

Pandas aren’t all black and white. Some come in a different shade, and scientists now understand why

buckkette@newsletter.paragraph.com (buckkette.eth) — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 04:24:02 GMT

With its striking coloration, the giant panda is an instantly recognizable species.

A handful of giant pandas that aren’t black-and-white, however, do exist. These majestic creatures with brown-and-white fur inhabit a single mountain range in China. And now, scientists may have unraveled the mystery of the extremely rare pandas’ unusual coats, according to new research.

The work, which involved studying the genetics of multiple pandas in the wild and in captivity, has suggested that pandas with brown-and-white coats are the result of natural variation, rather than a sign of inbreeding in a dwindling population.

The first brown panda known to science was a female named Dandan. A local ranger found the ailing bear in Foping County in Shaanxi province’s Qinling Mountains in March 1985. The panda was held in captivity until her death in 2000.

Since Dandan’s discovery decades ago, there have been 11 reported sightings documented through official news sources or personal accounts shared with the authors of this latest study that appeared in the journal PNAS on March 4.

“The recurring instances of brown pandas imply that this trait may be inheritable. However, to date, the genetic basis underlying the brown-and-white coat color remains unclear,” the authors wrote.